


Rainy Nights

by blynninja



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Other, gajeel is a big old softie and you can't convince me otherwise, sort of family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-20
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-15 15:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4612665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynninja/pseuds/blynninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Gajeel takes it upon himself to look out for the tiniest Dragon Slayer, and a rainy night in a cave causes him to think of Wendy a little differently.<br/>(May change title eventually.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rainy Nights

**Author's Note:**

> This was intended to be like two pages and then it ended up getting away from me and becoming more like five. Oops.
> 
> Spoilers for Tartaros arc and like post-episode 245 (Hell's Core).

After seeing the look on Wendy’s face when Grandeeney had said goodbye, and hearing about how difficult it had been for her to leave Shelia when Fairy Tail had reunited, Gajeel had made it a point to look out for the littlest dragon slayer.

Not that he hadn’t sort of done that to begin with, but now he found other ways to be sure she was all right.

He found himself asking her if she’d gotten enough to eat a lot of days, particularly in the weeks immediately following Fairy Tail’s reunion when things were still kind of crazy. 

He’d even quietly added money to her tab, pointedly ignoring Mira’s smile as she’d accepted the stack of jewels.

“Just… make sure she’s not hungry, got it?” he’d said gruffly, looking anywhere but at the eldest take-over mage.

“Whatever you say, Gajeel,” Mira had laughed back as Lily had grinned knowingly.

There were other things, too.

When he noticed jobs on the request board that seemed to fit Wendy’s skill and temperament, he tended to either grab them before someone else could or make sure she saw them. Usually she just smiled up at him and said “thank you,” and ran off to start the job without even asking anyone to go with her – aside from Charle, of course. The Exceed was at Wendy’s heel constantly, and Gajeel was glad for it.

Sometimes, though, he offered to go along with her, or asked her to tag along on his jobs when Lily wasn’t able to.

And yes, sometimes he bribed Lily to stay home so he could make such requests of Wendy.

The Exceed always complained—half-heartedly, Gajeel noted—that he should go along as backup, but Gajeel ignored it and promised kiwis, and Lily gladly found jobs to go on by himself or other excuses when Wendy asked.

Natsu could take care of himself, and Happy and Lucy usually tagged along with him, but Gajeel figured it was his responsibility as the eldest first-gen slayer in the guild to look out for the youngest.

At least, that was the reason he gave Lily or anyone else who asked.

And, though he would never admit it to the others, going on jobs with the sky slayer and getting to know her a little better over time was actually … nice.

Sometimes Natsu offered to tag along, too, proclaiming that the three dragon slayers had to look out for each other and do a job together every once in a while. Wendy always seemed glad of the suggestion, and Gajeel always hid a grimace at the thought of the fire dragon slayer burning down a building in his enthusiasm or something. But he allowed it, since it made sense and didn’t happen too often. Plus, Lucy tended to tag along, albeit reluctantly. It was nice to have her level head around in the wake of Natsu’s energy, Gajeel had to admit.

But when it was just him and Wendy—and Charle—there was more quiet.

Wendy was calm and didn’t pester him with too many questions and it allowed him time to think—not to mention someone to commiserate with over motion sickness, though Wendy always offered to cast Troia on him. He staunchly refused, always citing her warning that he would become immune to it. He always ignored Charle’s raised eyebrow, too. Dang Exceed was much more perceptive than her human.

He had finally heard the full story of how Charle’s egg had come into Wendy’s possession on one walk between towns when the day had been pleasant enough for them to not need transportation. Charle had looked like she hated the story of growing up in Cait Shelter, but Wendy’s animated telling had cracked her façade and Gajeel had almost laughed at the Exceed. She would have scratched him for it, probably, though, so he had held it in.

This particular evening, Lily accompanied them, and the Exceeds were making polite conversation about the job they had just finished when the skies opened and a deluge of rain came flooding down on them.

Levy, who had tagged along for her expertise in ancient languages, pulled Wendy in closer to her as she threw a Guard/Dry spell above their heads to protect against some of the rain.

Not for the first time, Gajeel was impressed with the smaller mage.

Charle and Lily stepped under the spell, leaving him blinking in the rain.

Levy laughed a little, and Wendy tugged at his sleeve to pull him closer as they made their way as quickly as possible toward some semblance of shelter.

“There!” Lily said quickly, pointing to a cave nestled in the hillside. Charle looked a little hesitant, but Levy was anything but, keeping her spell above their heads as they turned that direction, rushing now that Wendy was shivering and sneezing.

Gajeel glanced at the tiny dragon slayer as they neared the cave, frowning.

“Is she going to be okay? We passed a town a little while ago. I could—”

“Even with your senses, I doubt you’d get very far in that downpour, or be able to find your way back,” Levy interrupted easily as they entered the cave and she sank to the ground with Wendy in her arms.

“Besides, I always have some medicine in my bag. Jet doesn’t handle rain well, either.”

Lily quirked an eyebrow and Levy flushed. “Please don’t tell him I told you that. He’d be incredibly embarrassed.”

“Secret’s safe with me,” Gajeel replied with a small smile as Levy nodded and turned to Charle.

“Would you grab the blue bottle from my bag, please, Charle? It should be in one of the front pockets.”

“Of course,” the white Exceed said quickly, rummaging through two pockets before producing the bottle.

By now, Levy had Wendy’s head in her lap and Gajeel was pacing the small cave, wishing he could do something. There was barely enough room for him to pace, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

Charle handed over the bottle and Levy glanced at him.

“Would you mind helping me for a minute?”

Gajeel nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to her. “What do you need?”

“Could you hold Wendy so I can give her the medicine?”

Gajeel blinked and then quickly stepped over to Levy, kneeling next to her and trying to be extra gentle as she shifted Wendy toward him.

Between the two of them, they managed to help Wendy take a little bit of the medicine, and Levy sighed as Wendy fell into a deeper sleep.

“That should help a little. I can take her back now if you want.”

Gajeel barely even glanced at her as he replied, “You’re shivering, too. A fire would help.”

Levy made a funny “oh” noise before she conjured a wood and fire script not far away, and Charle immediately stepped closer, warming her paws as she looked at him skeptically.

“What?” Gajeel asked the cat, frowning a little.

Charle sniffed. “Wendy is not as fragile as you seem to think she is, is all.”

He heard Lily snort from somewhere behind him as Levy giggled from across the fire.

“She’s sick!” he protested. “I didn’t wanna hurt her or anything.”

Levy’s giggle died into a sigh as she replied, “It must be inconvenient, not being able to use her own magic to heal herself.”

Lily approached then, settling himself to Gajeel’s right, where Wendy’s head rested on his leg. He peered at her for a moment before agreeing, “Yes, it seems very unfair indeed.”

Charle frowned again, but didn’t say anything as she rounded the fire script to stand at Gajeel’s left, watching Wendy.

Lily moved closer to Levy without anyone saying a word, and Gajeel saw the glance that passed between the Exceeds as Charle took Lily’s spot by Wendy’s head, curling up next to Gajeel to watch her partner.

Gajeel glanced at Lily and found the cat already tucked under Levy’s arm, eyes closed contentedly. Briefly, he remembered seeing the same thing from across the stadium at the Grand Magic Games, and he fought a smile at the memory.

Wendy shifted in his lap and he glanced down to find panic etched across her face as what he recognized as a bad dream played out. 

Gently, he set a hand on the tiny slayer’s forehead, brushing her hair out of her face and sliding his other hand underneath one of hers. Carefully, and acutely aware of Levy’s eyes on him, Gajeel stroked Wendy’s forehead until the worst of the nightmare seemed to ease and her face relaxed beneath his hand.

She made what he could only describe as a happy sigh as she gripped his hand and mumbled something he couldn’t make out.

When he was certain Wendy was deeply asleep again, Gajeel sighed, leaning back to observe the cave’s ceiling.

After a minute, Levy broke the silence.

“How did you know that would help?”

“Huh?” He glanced at her, registering just what she was just talking about as he met her gaze.

“Oh, well… It worked for me, when Metalicana first took me in,” he said quietly, shrugging.

“Granted, it’s different when it’s a dragon’s tail on your face, but…”

He threw her a half-hearted grin, and Levy smiled a little sadly.

“I’m sorry, I forgot you must have been an orphan. That must have been difficult.”

Gajeel shrugged. “I got used to it. Metalicana wasn’t the most lovable dragon, but he had his moments.”

Levy smiled a little at that, her gaze drifting to Wendy.

“You care about her.”

“Heh?” he asked, faltering under the sold script mage’s gaze.

“Well, you know, she’s part of the guild, so…” he fumbled, cursing his lame response. “Of course I care!”

“So you’d let Lucy or Cana or one of the other girls use you as a pillow, too?” Levy asked, one eyebrow raised.

Gajeel considered the question for a minute, trying to picture one of them instead of Wendy. 

“Well, maybe not _Cana_ ,” he said quickly, frowning at the thought, “and Lucy would probably have Natsu around, so it wouldn’t even be necessary.”

He was rather proud of himself for his reasoning, until Levy asked, “But what if Natsu wasn’t around and Lucy was sick or injured?”

When he faltered over that phrasing of the question, Levy smiled at him.

“It’s not just because she’s in the guild. It’s because she’s a dragon slayer, and because she’s young, and you feel responsible for her.”

Gajeel scowled at her, and Levy grinned. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

“You’re a little too smart for your own good,” he grumbled, and Levy just laughed.

“I think it’s sweet that you want to look out for her,” she said quietly, running a hand over Lily’s head absently.

Gajeel blanched at her choice of adjective, and Levy beamed at him. 

“She’s not afraid of you like at the beginning. In fact, I’d say she looks quite comfortable.”

Gajeel frowned, looking back down at the little dragon slayer, who indeed looked peaceful.

“She’d do that if she was using you as a pillow, too,” he countered, ignoring the flush on his face.

“Yeah, but she wasn’t afraid of me a few years ago,” Levy pointed out quietly. 

“Go to sleep, shrimp,” Gajeel grumped, looking away. Wendy’s weight was making his legs fall asleep, but no way was he going to move and risk dropping her.

Levy chuckled as she curled up on the cave floor, loosening her hold on Lily a bit so she didn’t squish him. The Exceed adjusted without a word, his tail flicking a little as Gajeel noted that his cat was purring. He didn’t do it a lot, and Gajeel was frankly a little surprised that he could in the first place.

He sighed heavily, suddenly glad that the cave was small enough for him to rest his head against the wall. There was absolutely no way he was laying down in here, especially with Wendy in his lap.

He wasn’t even sure if he was going to get any sleep, what with worrying about her and everything, but when he opened his eyes, Levy’s fire script had died enough that he knew at least an hour or two had passed.

Wendy shifted in her sleep and Gajeel looked at her critically for a moment, wondering if another bad dream was starting.

But he found the tiny slayer curling her legs closer to her and smiling a little as she set her hand on his knee, near her own nose.

Gajeel blinked, confused, until he realized Wendy was completely asleep, but now he could make out the mumbling.

“Grandeeney,” was the tiny slayer’s sigh, and Gajeel froze.

Of course she still missed her mother. She was probably so used to curling up next to Grandeeney from childhood that she still found a way to make herself small, as though she was still in the dragon’s care.

Something in his chest tugged, and Gajeel realized he actually felt kind of sorry for Wendy.

She had been even younger than Natsu when the dragons had vanished, and while they knew the story now, it must have been hard on her, to have been so tiny and alone. 

He had been older when Metalicana had disappeared, and rougher around the edges, so it hadn’t bothered him as much as it seemed to bother Natsu, but Wendy had probably had the worst time of it, he reasoned.

Watching her now, curled up in his lap and looking much younger than her 12 years (Tenrou Island didn’t count in his book), Gajeel realized just how much Wendy had been through in such a short time. She had lost her mother, been taken to Cait Shelter and left there, joined Fairy Tail after learning the truth about her guild after that joint mission, gone through all that Tenrou Island crap, and had fought bravely during the Grand Magic Games and in Tartaros.

And then she had learned the truth of her mother’s whereabouts and been broken all over again. No one else commented on it, but Gajeel had noticed, and he had nearly broken Natsu’s nose when the Salamander had said a few things without thinking that had made Wendy’s face fall.

She tried to put on a brave face and keep up the happy-go-lucky attitude, but with the way she was acting now, unconsciously cuddling up to a dragon who no longer existed, Gajeel decided things needed to change.

Absently, he let his thumb trace circles on Wendy’s hand, hoping the contact would help.

Something shifted across the dying fire, and in the low light he could just make out Levy smiling softly. Lily had one eye open, watching him, and Gajeel scowled at the Exceed, who smirked knowingly and closed his eye again, shifting in Levy’s grasp.

Gajeel sighed. As long as they didn’t tell anybody about this little adventure, he had no reason to be upset.

But something told him that even a year’s worth of kiwis and a good book wouldn’t keep the two from talking.

Gajeel sighed through his nose, closing his eyes again. He could at least try to rest a little, since they still had to walk a ways back to Magnolia tomorrow. He’d do no good dead on his feet.

When sunlight drifted into the cave several hours later, Gajeel could feel Charle shift next to him, and he heard her paw connect gently with Wendy’s hair as the cat waited for her human to wake up.

Gajeel crossed his arms carefully, affecting the look that Juvia had always called his least intimidating, and waited.

He noted and ignored Lily’s frown and Levy’s small giggle, saying nothing as he watched Wendy’s eyes twitch open.

It took her a moment, but eventually she blinked and sat up in a rush, ignoring Levy’s protest of the action. 

Before Wendy could open her mouth to blurt the apology he knew was bubbling up in her, Gajeel set a hand on her head and said simply, “Just don’t make a habit of gettin’ sick, all right?”

Wendy blinked and frowned at him, and Gajeel stood, offering her a hand, which she took, albeit a little hesitantly.

“Come on, you two!” Levy called, and Gajeel realized that the sold script mage and the two cats had already stepped out of the cave.

“You okay to walk back?” Gajeel asked, looking at Wendy out of the corner of his eye as she kept pace with him.

“Mhm!” the tiny slayer assured him, closing her eyes as she smiled.

“Good. But if you get tired or anything, you let us know, you got that? Don’t need you passin’ out again.”

He tried to be gruff about it, he really did. But the grin on Wendy’s face as she turned to him, coupled with the way she carefully looped her arm around his, told him that she wasn’t buying it.

Gajeel scowled briefly. Natsu would never let him live this down.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted cuddly Gajeel, so I wrote it. Kinda. It ended up a little more angst-y than I intended, but oh well. Once I got started on the Grandeeney bit, I couldn’t really stop the slight sad.
> 
> Originally this was going to be immediately pre-Tartaros, but... well... it spiraled on me. And the manga chapters kind of necessitated a bit of a change. If anything seems off continuity-wise, blame the post-Tartaros chapters. I'm too lazy to fix it.


End file.
